


Please keep your hands to yourself

by cherrysyrup



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Donghyuck is going trough some hard shit, Fluff and Angst, M/M, mark is cute tho, maybe mark will make things a bit better for donghyuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:00:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29835696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrysyrup/pseuds/cherrysyrup
Summary: haphephobia [ haf-uh-foh-bee-uh ]noun1 an extreme fear or dislike of touching or being touched.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	Please keep your hands to yourself

**Author's Note:**

> hello!!  
> this is my first pic ever so plz if you have any suggestions write it down below  
> english is not my first languages excuse my grammar mistakes lol
> 
> enjoy!

Donghyuck woke up panting, sweat rolling down his back. He reached for his water bottle on his bedside table and took a long chug. He sighed and laid back in bed, his breathing still coming out ragged. Perhaps these nightmares were some kinds of malediction that were sent to him from above? He probably deserved it. After all, he was the reason his mom was downstairs, crying, over the absence of her husband. Donghyuck’s dad wasn’t dead, no. Unfortunately for the boy, his father was only in jail for a while. But Donghyuck really didn’t want to think about this again. He was tired, his head was throbbing, his limbs were numb with the lack of sleep. Tomorrow he had a long day at school. He closed his eyes and thought about sunny days with his mom back when he was five, back when his innocence wasn’t ripped away from him by the man, he truly trusted.

****  
Over the loud chatting in the cafeteria, Donghyuck could hear his friend yelling:  
“Hyuck! Did you hear about the new transfer student?” Donghyuck furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. “I sat beside him in my maths class” Renjun continued “He’s kinda funny! He can barely speak Korean it was pretty cute” Renjun laughed at the memory and Donghyuck smirked. Renjun was the type of person that could light up an entire room with his laugh. Donghyuck was jealous. His best friend had an easy way of speaking and he was able to befriend pretty much anyone at school. Donghyuck could never allow himself such a luxury. He couldn’t. Not with this weird…. thing he had. What did his doctor call it again? “A strong case of haphephobia” Donghyuck remembered. He remembered that day so clearly. His mom had brought him to the doctor after she noticed he had frequent outbursts in school over other kids touching him. Even the lightest touches had Donghyuck screaming and crying. Eight-year-old Donghyuck didn’t understand the trauma that he had to go through. He was simply a child. He didn’t understand why his mother was silently crying when she was speaking with the doctor. Or when she had to use gloves every time, she had to come near Donghyuck. He didn’t understand when all his friends in school never came closer than a foot near him. At least he had all the firetrucks and Legos to himself…Donghyuck shook his head from the unpleasant memories and turned back to his friends. Jeno was now sitting at the table with him and Renjun. Both of them were angled to give Donghyuck the maximum space he needed whilst still managing to include him in the group. He was incredibly grateful for that. The more space he had, the less panicked he felt about coming near anyone. He smiled while looking at his friends debating which Lord of the Rings movie was the most boring. Renjun was practically jumping on the table and Jeno was standing up with his arm raised. Renjun would’ve probably choked the other boy if it wasn’t for the bell ringing. The two boys stood up and waved goodbye to Donghyuck, who smiled back brightly. They always went ahead of him because they knew Donghyuck will have to wait for the hallways to empty themselves before walking to his next class.

Donghyuck was singing lowly as he walked down the hall to his chemistry class. Everyone was used to him walking late so he confidently sat down at his desk, in the corner of the class. He didn’t share his desk with anyone, so he just dumped all his stuff on the chair beside him and turned around to look at the teacher. That’s when he noticed the boy standing in front of the class. He was pretty tall and had huge round eyes that looked curious and lost. He was clinging to his Chemistry 101 book in his hand. The teacher spoke  
“Good afternoon class! Before we begin, I would like to introduce you to our new transfer student! His name is Mark Lee. He came from the USA, so please be respectful and patient when speaking to him. He’s still learning Korean.” The teacher turned to Mark and said “We don’t have any free desks, unfortunately. You will have to share with Donghyuck while we figure out something” then the man turned to Donghyuck “You don’t mind right?”  
Donghyuck could feel all his classmate’s eyes on him. His hands were tightly holding his tighs under the desk. He didn’t trust his voice to not shake, so he simply looked at his teacher and shook his head. “Perfect it’s settled then! Mark you can go sit back there!” With every step the boy took towards him, Donghyuck felt his heart beat faster and faster. His breathing was getting harder and harder. He closed his eyes and focused on getting his breathing back to normal. When he heard the chair being pulled beside him, he stiffened. Donghyuck wanted to dig a hole right there and hide from all the eyes staring at him intently, waiting for some kind of reaction.  
“Uhm... Your stuff…” He heard the boy beside him say. He turned towards him and stared at his books. They weren’t on the chair anymore. They were in the boy’s hands. He was handing them to him. Donghyuck looked at Mark and blinked. This situation probably hasn’t ever happened to him. Everybody around him knew that touching was not possible with Donghyuck. He didn’t have to worry about someone randomly patting his head or shaking his hand. So seeing this clueless foreigner standing like this in front of him, Donghyuck didn’t feel like explaining it all to him right now. He didn’t want to cause a scene or to be the center of attention longer than he needed to. Collecting all the courage he had in his small body, Donghyuck slowly reached out to get his books from Mark’s hands, carefully and slowly without ever coming near any of the boy’s fingers. When he had his books fully in his hands, Donghyuck let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. And when Mark sat down and opened his books and started writing down the teachers’ words, Donghyuck was still staring at his pile of stuff in front of him. He was truly in disbelief. He didn’t panic. He was in control. For the first time in his life, he felt like something was under his control. And now even when this boy is sitting barely an inch beside him, he was still not panicking. 

The bell rang and Donghyuck was pulled out of his reverie. He sat waiting for everyone to leave.  
“You’re not leaving?” he hears Mark whisper beside him. Donghyuck shook his head. “You just got first I have…something to do” Mark nodded and waved him goodbye. Donghyuck watches the boy’s back as he left the class, closing the door behind him. As soon as he was out, Donghyuck buried his face in his arms and let out a long groan. He hated this. He really did. How was he supposed to survive this whole semester sitting beside someone, when he was so terrified of the bare graze of their fingers? Slowly he stood up and collected all his stuff and walked out of the class to his locker. Usually, on days like this, his mom would come to pick him up after school. Donghyuck was too terrified to take the bus. He always tried to avoid these small, crowded places, where touching anyone was inevitable. But today he didn’t have a choice. Today was visit day at the Seoul Detention Center. His mom would always count down the days to seeing her husband. Oh, her dear lovely husband! Donghyuck let out a bitter laugh. He hated that man’s guts, and he hated his mother even more for still loving him regardless of the atrocity of his actions. Donghyuck arrived at his bus stop and sat down on the bench. He reached in his pockets for his earphones and played a collection of his favorite songs. These days he was really into Coldplay’s music. The soft melody played in his ears and he couldn’t stop himself from singing it. Donghyuck was the happiest when he listened to music. The only thing that he truly enjoyed. When the song ended, he opened his eyes just to discover that the bus still hasn’t come. He sighed and looked down at his phone again.  
“Your voice…” Donghyuck turned to the direction the voice was coming from. “It’s so pretty” Donghyuck cursed in his head when he realized the voice belonged to non-other than Mark lee. Or the new transfer student he embarrassed himself in front of. Donghyuck smiled awkwardly.  
“Oh hey…Mark is that right?” Mark nodded vigorously and said “I’m sorry for eavesdropping I was just passing by and I heard singing…You sing so well! Where did you learn to sing like this?”  
Donghyuck smiled and answered him “My mom used to sing to me a lot when I was young. She used to be a singer, that’s how she met my dad. He was her pianist…” Donghyuck interrupted himself. Why was he telling this to this random boy he met not even an hour ago? He never even told Renjun about his parents' meeting. Donghyuck shook his head and continued  
“I’m sorry I’m oversharing. I don’t want to bore you-”  
“Not at all!” Mark interrupted him “I want to hear about it”  
Donghyuck was opening his mouth to answer when the bus loudly stopped in front of them. The boys quickly stood up and hopped in. But the second Donghyuck walked in, he stopped moving. The bus was crowded. Way too crowded for his liking. All the seats were taken, and people were standing on both sides. There was still space for Donghyuck to make way for himself, but we wouldn’t be able to avoid touching these strangers. Donghyuck was frozen in place. His vision was getting blurry, breathing was becoming difficult, his heart was beating too fast. He was starting to panic.  
“Donghyuck?” Mark looked at him his eyebrows furrowed. “Is everything alright you look a bit pale.”  
“I can't do this Mark” Donghyuck gave him a panicked look “It’s too crowded here. Too many people I can’t…I can’t do this. I’m scared, Mark. What if they touch me!” A single tear rolled down his cheek. Mark looked a bit confused “You don’t want them to touch you?” Donghyuck sniffled and nodded. Mark looked like he was thinking fast. He glanced down at Donghyuck to see what he was wearing. The weather outside was starting to become hotter and he had wrapped his knit sweater around his waist. He was wearing his white t-shit alone and his arms were exposed. Mark shrugged off his jacket and put it around Donghyuck’s shoulders. He zipped it up all the way to his neck without making him put his arms through the sleeves. The boy was wrapped up like a burrito, not an inch of his skin was exposed. Mark reached out and took Donghyuck’s empty sleeves and pulled him to the back of the bus. Mark gripped the pole with one hand and held on Donghyuck with the other. When the bus came to a halt, Donghyuck lost his balance. But Mark was quick to catch him. Mark steadied him, still only touching him through his coat. They stayed like this until the bus arrived at Donghyuck's stop.  
“Just keep the coat, you can give it back to me tomorrow” Mark smiled, his eyes forming into crescents. Donghyuck just nodded, overwhelmed by the actions of the boy. He quickly stepped out of the bus and started walking. Donghyuck struggled to remove the coat from his body. The zipper was upon him and he couldn’t free his arm from the coat. He ended up pulling the coat over his head and putting it back on properly. The coat had such a sweet scent. Maybe a mix of vanilla and cherry blossoms? Donghyuck couldn’t tell. The walk from the bus to his house wasn’t long and soon enough, he opened the door to his small cozy apartment. His mom wasn’t a big fan of chores and Donghyuck was often the one who had to clean up. Their house wasn’t messy today. Donghyuck quickly cleaned up the few dishes that were left in the sink and did the laundry. Once that was done, he locked himself in his room and started his homework.  
He couldn’t focus. Every time he looked down at his paper, he was reminded of the cute transfer student. Cute? Donghyuck felt the tip of his ears warming up. Yes, he was cute, Donghyuck thought. His hair was brown and curly. It looked soft and fluffy. Donghyuck imagined what the texture would feel like on his fingers. He raised his hand to his own head and touched his hair. His hair was soft, but it didn’t have any bouncy curls as he saw on Mark. He pictured the boy’s hair curling softly around his own fingers. Donghyuck shuddered. Picturing himself touching someone always had a bad impact on him, not that it happened often… Donghyuck stared at Mark's coat hanging on the back of his door. He couldn’t help the smile creeping upon his face. Nobody had ever cared for him like Mark did, back in the bus. Most people were a bit weirded out by his panic attacks over some small contact. His mom never tried to do anything with him anymore, because she was annoyed by his “overreaction” as she called it. When he had told Mark that he didn’t want to be touched, the boy didn’t laugh at him or dismiss his fear. He simply found a solution that could work for both of them. Donghyuck was touched. And later that night, curled up in his bed under a warm blanket, Donghyuck didn’t have a nightmare. He dreamt of a sweet boy who spoke in broken Korean and with big chocolate dewy eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> hi again I hope u enjoyed! leave a comment and tell me what u think hehe


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